17th Battalion (Australia)

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For other uses, see 2/17th Battalion (Australia).

17th Battalion
later 17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment
Unit colour patch

The 17th Battalion was an

battle honours
and its members received many individual awards, however, at the end of the war the battalion was disbanded in April 1919.

In 1921, the battalion was reformed as a militia unit known as the 17th Battalion (North Sydney Regiment), before being disbanded in 1944. The battalion was reformed in 1948 as an amalgamated unit known as the 17th/18th Battalion (The North Shore Regiment), before being reduced to a company-sized element in the 2nd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment in 1960. In 1965, the battalion was reformed again as the 17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, before being amalgamated to form the 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment in 1987.

History

Formation

The battalion's origins began when the St Leonards Volunteer Rifles was raised in 1860 in the northern suburbs of

Sydney as part of the military forces of the New South Wales colonial defence force.[1] Members of this unit served overseas in 1885 in Sudan, and then again in South Africa during the Second Boer War. In 1903, following the Federation of Australia this unit became part of the Commonwealth Military Forces and was renamed the 1st Australian Infantry Regiment.[1] In 1912, a system of compulsory military service was introduced and the unit was renamed the 18th Infantry, and then later, in 1914, the 17th Infantry.[1]

World War I

When World War I began, due to the provisions of the Defence Act 1903 which precluded sending conscripts overseas to fight, it became necessary to raise an all volunteer force, separate to the militia, for service in the Middle East and Europe.

Anzac Cove on 20 August 1915.[3] They took part in the August Offensive, during which time they were engaged in the attack on Hill 60. Following this they were mainly used in a defensive role, defending Quinn's Post, which was one of the most fought over positions at Gallipoli.[3]

The battalion was withdrawn from the peninsula in December 1915 along with the rest of the Allied forces after the decision was made to abandon the campaign. After this, a further period of training in Egypt was undertaken as the AIF was reorganised and expanded from two infantry divisions to five.

William Jackson earned the battalion's only Victoria Cross of the war.[1] Later, the 17th Battalion took part in the first major battle at Pozières, serving in the line twice at this time between July and August. A period of respite followed after this, as the 17th was moved north to Belgium along with the rest of the 2nd Division, remaining there until October when they were transferred back to the Somme. For the remainder of the year they undertook defensive duties along the front, although they were not involved in any major attacks.[3]

Victoria Cross recipient, William Jackson

In 1917, after enduring a harsh winter, the 17th Battalion was involved in most of the major battles as the German Army shortened their lines and withdrew back towards the

Montbrehain in October.[3] This would be the battalion's last contribution to the war, as it was out of the line reorganising when the Armistice was declared in November 1918. It was disbanded in April 1919, whilst at Montigny-le-Tilluel, Belgium, when most of its personnel were transferred to the 20th Battalion.[6]

During World War I, the battalion suffered 3,280 casualties, of which 845 were killed.

Mentions in Despatches.[3][7]

Interwar years, World War II and post war

The demobilisation of the AIF was completed in early 1921 and in April that year it was officially disbanded. The Australian government then decided to reorganise the units of the

Citizen Forces (later known as the "Militia") in order to perpetuate the divisional structure, numerical designations and battle honours of the AIF.[8] As a result of this, the 17th Infantry, a militia unit that could trace its lineage back to 1860, was reformed as the 17th Battalion (The North Sydney Regiment),[1] drawing personnel from the 17th Infantry Regiment. Through this link, the 17th Battalion inherited two theatre honours, "Suakin 1885" and "South Africa 1899–1902".[9] During the inter-war years, the battalion was assigned to the 8th Brigade, which was headquartered in North Sydney and formed part of the 2nd Military District.[10]

During World War II, the battalion undertook garrison duties in Australia, as part of the 9th Brigade, based in New South Wales.[11] Around November 1942, the battalion's machine gun company was detached and in conjunction with several other Militia machine gun companies, it was used to form the 6th Machine Gun Battalion.[12] Although there were reductions amongst the home forces as the war progressed, the 17th Battalion remained on the Australian order of battle until 6 April 1944 when it was disbanded,[9] having not seen active service during World War II, as the Australian Army sought to reallocate manpower back to industry or to other units that were engaged in combat operations in the Pacific.[1]

In 1948, the battalion was re-raised as part of the Citizens Military Force, and was amalgamated with the 18th Battalion to form the 17th/18th Battalion (The North Shore Regiment).[1] Upon reforming, the battalion was entrusted with the World War II battle honours of the 2/17th Battalion, in which many members of North Sydney Regiment had enlisted.[1][13][14] The Australian Army was reorganised along Pentropic lines in 1960, and the battalion became 'B' Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (2 RNSWR). The battalion also formed the nucleus of 2 RNSWR's support company and regimental band.[15] When the Pentropic divisional structure was abandoned in 1965, the battalion was reformed in its own right as the 17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment. This lasted until 1987 when another reorganisation of the Australian Army Reserve led to the unit's amalgamation to form the 2nd/17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment.[16][17]

Battle honours

The 17th Battalion received the following battle and theatre honours:[9]

Lineage

The 17th Battalion's lineage is as follows:[20]
1860–1868 — 1st Regiment New South Wales Rifle Volunteers (St Leonards Volunteer Rifles)
1868–1876 — The Suburban Battalion, New South Wales Volunteer Rifles
1876–1878 — 2nd Regiment Volunteer Rifles
1888–1893 — St Leonards Reserve Rifle Company
1895–1901 — North Sydney Company, 1st Regiment New South Wales Volunteer Infantry
1901–1903 — 1st Infantry Regiment
1903–1908 — 1st Australian Infantry Regiment
1908–1912 — 1st Battalion, 1st Australian Infantry Regiment
1912–1913 — 18th Infantry Regiment
1913–1914 — 18th (North Sydney) Infantry
1914–1918 — 17th Infantry
1918–1921 — 5th Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment
1921–1927 — 17th Battalion
1927–1944 — 17th Battalion (The North Sydney Regiment)
1948–1960 — 17th/18th Battalion (The North Shore Regiment)
1960–1965 — 'B' Coy, 2nd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment
1965–1987 — 17th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harris, Ted. "Royal New South Wales Regiment Battalions Off Orbat". Digger History.org. Archived from the original on 2 July 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  2. ^ Grey 2008, p. 85.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "17th Battalion". First World War, 1914–1918 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  4. ^ Grey 2008, pp. 99–100.
  5. ^ "Battle of Lagnicourt". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  6. ^ "AWM4: 23/34/1-23/34/45 – 17th Battalion, AIF, War Diary (entry for 11 April 1919)". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  7. ^ The figures for the MC includes one Bar. The figures for the MM includes 11 Bars. The AWM figures include eight foreign awards. These are not specified and are therefore not included here.
  8. ^ Grey 2008, p. 125.
  9. ^ a b c Festberg 1972, p. 78.
  10. ^ "Australian Infantry Unit Colour Patches 1921–1949". Digger History. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  11. ^ McKenzie-Smith 2018, pp. 2070–2071.
  12. ^ Morgan 2019, p. 5.
  13. ^ Grey 2001, p. 172.
  14. ^ 2/17 Battalion History Committee 1998, p. 319.
  15. ^ 2/17 Battalion History Committee 1998, p. 328.
  16. ^ Shaw 2010, pp. 10–11.
  17. ^ 2/17 Battalion History Committee 1998, p. 333.
  18. ^ "2/17th Battalion". Second World War, 1939–1945 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  19. ^ These battle honours were conferred on the 17th Battalion after World War II to perpetuate the 2/17th Battalion, in which many members of the unit had served during the war.
  20. ^ Harris, Ted. "Lineage of the Royal New South Wales Regiment". Digger History.org. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.

References

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